Systems and methods for tracking pharmaceuticals within a facility

Abstract

A pad is provided for monitoring administration of medical products to a patient, each of the medical products including a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag for storing data related to the respective medical product. The pad includes an RF antenna for reading RFID tags associated with medical products placed in close proximity to the pad to obtain data stored in the RFID tags. A processor coupled to the antenna compares the data with data associated with a patient to verify that the patient is intended to receive the medical products. The pad may include an output device that is activated when the processor detects a mismatch between the data from the RFID tags and the patient data. Optionally, the patient data may be accessed by a remote computer device communicating with the processor to verify that the patient is intended to receive the medical products.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for monitoring administration of medical products to a patient, each of the medical products comprising a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag for storing data related to the respective medical product, the apparatus comprising: 
 a reader for substantially simultaneously reading RFID tags associated with a plurality of medical products to obtain the data stored in the RFID tags; and    a processor coupled to the reader for comparing the data obtained from the RFID tags with data associated with a patient to verify that the patient is intended to receive the medical products.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a memory coupled to the processor for storing the data associated with the patient.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processor compares product identifiers from the data obtained from the RFID tags with product identifiers from the data associated with the patient.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the product identifiers comprise at least one of product names and dosages.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a display coupled to the processor, and wherein the processor controls the display to display a mismatch notification when the processor detects a mismatch between the data obtained from the RFID tags and the data associated with the patient.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an output device coupled to the processor, and wherein the processor activates the output device when the processor detects a mismatch between the data obtained from the RFID tags and the data associated with the patient.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the output device comprises at least one of a light indicator and an audio indicator.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the reader is configured to read the RFID tags associated with the medical products when the medical products pass through an entrance to the patient's room.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a read pad, and wherein the reader comprises an antenna in the read pad for reading the RFID tags associated with the medical products when the medical products are placed in close proximity to the read pad.  
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the read pad comprises a surface onto which the medical products may be placed.  
     
     
         11 . An apparatus for monitoring administration of medical products to a patient, each of the medical products comprising a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag for storing data related to the respective medical product, the apparatus comprising: 
 a reader for reading the RFID tags associated with a plurality of medical products placed in close proximity to the reader to obtain the data stored in the RFID tags; and    a processor coupled to the reader for processing the data obtained from the RFID tags to identify the medical products.    
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising a display coupled to the processor, and wherein the processor controls the display to display the identified medical products.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising a network interface coupled to the processor, and wherein the processor is configured for transmitting the data obtained from the RFID tags using the network interface.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured for receiving a notification via the network interface, in response to the transmission, indicating whether to administer the identified medical products.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , further comprising a display coupled to the processor, and wherein the processor is configured for displaying the received notification on the display.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 14 , further comprising an output device coupled to the processor, and wherein the processor activates the output device when the received notification indicates that the identified medical products should not be administered.  
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the output device comprises at least one of a light indicator and an audio indicator.  
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the reader comprises an antenna mounted in an entrance to the patient's room, the antenna configured to read the RFID tags associated with the medical products when the medical products pass through the entrance.  
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising a read pad, and wherein the reader comprises an antenna in the read pad for reading the RFID tags associated with the medical products when the medical products are placed in close proximity to the read pad.  
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the reader is configured for substantially simultaneously reading a plurality of RFID tags associated with a plurality of medical products placed in close proximity to the reader.  
     
     
         21 . A method for monitoring administration of a medical product to a patient, the medical product comprising a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag for storing data related to the medical product, the method comprising: 
 reading the RFID tag associated with the medical product to obtain the data stored in the RFID tag;    accessing data associated with a patient; and    verifying that the patient is intended to receive the medical product by comparing the data obtained from the RFID tag with the data associated with the patient.    
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the verifying step further comprises comparing a product identifier from the data obtained from the RFID tag with a product identifier from the data associated with the patient.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the product identifier comprises at least one of a product name, a dosage, and a product serial number.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising displaying a mismatch notification when there is a mismatch between the data obtained from the RFID tag and the data associated with the patient.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising activating an output device when there is a mismatch between the data obtained from the RFID tag and the data associated with the patient.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising reading the RFID tag associated with the medical product when the medical product passes through an entrance to the patient's room.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising reading the RFID tag associated with the medical product when the medical product is placed in close proximity to a read pad.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising recording administration of the medical product to the patient when there is a match between the data obtained from the RFID tags and the data associated with the patient.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the reading step comprises substantially simultaneously reading RFID tags associated with a plurality of medical products, and wherein the verifying step comprises verifying that each of the plurality of medical products is intended for the patient.  
     
     
         30 . A method for identifying a plurality of medical products, each of the medical products comprising a for storing data related to the respective medical product, the method comprising: 
 placing the plurality of medical products in close proximity to a RF antenna;    reading Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags associated with the medical products using the RF antenna to obtain the data stored in the RFID tags; and    identifying each of the plurality of medical products based upon the data obtained from the RFID tags.    
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising recording administration of the identified medical products to a patient.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the identifying step comprises accessing a database to obtain data associated with the medical products based upon the data obtained from the RFID tags.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the data obtained from the RFID tags comprises location identifiers, and wherein the identifying step comprises accessing locations in the database identified by respective location identifiers to obtain product identifiers identifying respective medical products.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising verifying that the patient is intended to receive the plurality of medical products by comparing the data obtained from the RFID tags with the data associated with the patient.